JAPANESE AMERICAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION

                     1749 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500, McLean, VA 22102 (Bob Nakamoto, President)

CONTACT:  Calvin Ninomiya, Esq, 301-652-8135; calvinnino@aol.com

                              Terry Shima 301-987-6746;  ttshima@comcast.net

PHOTO:   None

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 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1JAVA‘S  2010 MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

TO BE BIGGER AND BETTER – SIX $1,500 AWARDS

Japanese American Veterans Association

Washington, DC.  “Eligible students looking forward to graduating high school this year and their parents, all concerned about the ever-higher costs of a college education, will be pleased to know that Japanese American Veterans Association’s Memorial Scholarship Program for 2010 will be both bigger and better,” Calvin Ninomiya, Esq, JAVA Scholarship Chair said.  “There will be a total of six scholarships to be awarded, three more than last year.  And, the awards will be higher – $l,500 each.  Given the improved chances and the increase in the amount of each award, all JAVA members are encouraged to publicize the program among family and friends”, Ninomiya continued..

This year’s scholarship program will continue to honor the three individuals in whose name scholarships were awarded last year:  Mr. Orville Shirey, who had served as the intelligence officer and historian of the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT); Mr. Jack Tashiro, who served with the Military Intelligence Service and as JAVA Treasurer for many years; and, Colonel Douglas Ishio, US Air Force, son of the founder of JAVA, Colonel Sunao Phil Ishio, US Army (Ret).  The 2010 program has been augmented by a separate scholarship fund in Colonel Ishio’s name established by his wife, Connie. A fifth scholarship has also been created this year from the estate of Ms. Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin, a JAVA benefactor who had lived in Portland, Oregon.  The sixth award has also been established in the name of Ms. Teru Kamikawa Matsui, in whose memory a scholarship was provided by her son, Martin, who resides in Hong Kong. 

The application rules are basically the same as last year to govern the 2010 program.  In general, to be eligible, the entrant should be a graduating high school student in 2010, and he or she must be related lineally to a person who served in the 100^th Infantry Battalion, the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team, and/or the Military Intelligence Service or a Japanese American who has or is serving in our nation’s armed services.  Those related to a member of JAVA are also eligible to apply.  Given these requirements, the pool of eligible applicants, while limited, increases the chances of those who qualify in receiving an award.

The competition is now open, and eligible applicants are urged to submit their entries as soon as they are able to meet the criteria.  One of those is that the application must be accompanied by documentation showing that the entrant has been admitted to an accredited college, university, or some other institution that provides post-high school education or training for 2010.

Given the diversity of schools and locations from which applications have been received in the past, the competition also requires that each entrant submit an essay of 500 words or less on the subject: “What winning a JAVA scholarship award will mean to me.”  These essays will be evaluated by a three-member panel of judges specially chosen by the JAVA Executive Committee to distinguish between applications of comparable merit.

The panel that will be reviewing the entries are: Sue Okubo, a Ph.D. economist, formerly with the Department of Commerce; COL Ed Wakayama, USA (Ret), a Ph.D., who is an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, and Raymond Murakami, a DDS, who was former Chairman of the Board of the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation.

The deadline for the receipt of completed applications is Wednesday, April 21, 2010.  This date permits those students who are awaiting admission information from institutions that provide notification as late of April l5, to include such documented advice with their entry.

Complete details about the Program and the terms and conditions of the contest are spelled out in materials that may be found on the JAVA website – www.javadc.org,  the JAVA Round Robin, twice weekly electronic bulletin, and its quarterly newsletter, The Advocate.  The official application form should be downloaded from the website or the JAVA Round Robin.

Individual inquiries may be made to Calvin Ninomiya, JAVA Scholarship Program Chair, 4828 Drummond Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland 208l5 [or, calvinnino@aol.com].  30